meagain

I think it's just not lining up right because the stem isn't going INTO the hole. It's smashing down the rim that surrounds the hole in the stemless part of the rivet. Maybe my leather is too thick.

Well I have the press and still get them messed up. The long stem smashes into the protruding rim of the stemless piece. I've yet to figure out exactly why.

Ordered today. Can't wait to do some practice rivets. Weight of worry off my shoulders.

Sylvia - what do you mean exactly by 'piercing die' I think I'd like a perfect round impression that's maybe 4mm. 5mm max. A perfect circle with flat bottom Else if I could make a circle impression then use another tool to flatten the bottom out of it. But that's tricky and work. But I'm not sure what a piercing die is.

OK OK - I'm going to get this. My ONLY issue is I wish it didn't have threads. But I'm seeing dies on Ebay that I believe will go with it. Well I have a question for you all. I want to do something with impressing a round hole. Not going through but just pushed in a bit. I want to make a round indent to set a Swarovski Flatback crystal so it's recessed into the leather a bit vs. sitting on top. This press should allow me to make the same depth throughout the item. Would anyone have an idea what I could use for such a thing in this press? I'm fearing I won't be able to do it - whereas with the Tandy, I could put an oddball tool in there and cinch it down.

What about the set the guy used in my link above? Would that work? He seemed happy with it - IDK

Sylvia - did you get your stuff yet? And may I ask what you use your arbor press for?

I just made a fun little heart shaped coaster. (Bought a bag of 25 coasters for practice). I painted it, then changed the color, then changed it again and.... I wouldn't be surprised if it's still tacky 4 days out. I have learned to only work when in the right mindset/mood. This is key for me. And yes, know when to step away!

Well if it works in 13oz leather - it'll surely work in 8-9oz tooling leather It's those darned Rivets I need to go thru double that. Rivets scare me. Fortunately I'm not selling the collars! Oh! Something else I want to do is be able to press (not cut) a hole to be a round shallow indent. All the same depth so this press would be good for that. But I doubt there's a tool for this. I think the limiting factor with this press might be the need for screwing the die in the top vs. the Tandy one holding it in externally. More options I guess. Also - This looks like the same press to me. He used the Tandy hole punch set in it. Looks the same right? http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=56610&hl=%2Btandy+%2Bpress

Talked to Dave - he's insisting that the hole punches ARE for leather 'and' fabric - for rivets etc... http://goldstartool.com/Hole_Punch_Die_for_Grommet_Machine.html So I'm confused. He also said there is nothing available for setting 'rim sets' like these things... http://www.rhinestoneguy.com/Images/Products/Rim-Sets.jpg Scratching head. This is confusing

OK - Well I have Tandy Medium sized (5/16th aka 8mm?) double caps. They bother me. The ends rattle I'm putting 2 rivets on each end of the collar and I don't trust them. Just leather on leather with a d-ring held by 2 rivets. :| If anyone knows where there might be a better quality/stronger version of these - I'm all ears. I think I'm going to buy this press. Don't really need snaps though, at least not the 24 but I'll ponder that. I have 2 big questions.... 1) I'd like to set Crystal rivets in 5, 6, 10mm sizes. I'd also like to venture into Swarovski flat backs with separate pronged rim thingies (a youtube shows the tandy using 1/4 rim spot. Would anyone know if I can just use the 8mm rivet die for this? Or something generic for the various sizes? 2) Pondering the hole cutter option for it. I'm worried it would be difficult to accurately see where you are lined up for the hole - i.e. if the size of the dye makes it impossible to eyeball where the hole will end up accurately?

So it's OK without attaching it sounds. That's good. I think my rivets are the right size. They are tandy double cap with the little crimp at the bottom of the stem and a cap. This makes zero sense to me. I can pull them apart. Twice I was able to get it to stay but still with more effort - pulled them apart. I'm making dog collars and this is beyond not acceptable. Trying to attach 2 8-9oz leather together. I have no idea what the post is supposed to do inside because I don't see any room for the post to go beyond the crimp thing. Then I worry it's not hammered all the way then it bends/tilts. Maybe I should go with Chicago screws but those scare me also. Or try the rivet type with the back having a hole in it which I'm not yet sure what are different about those. LOL Yes I'm new.

Does this unit require screwing to a bench? Or is it solid - with no tipping - on it's own. Tipping would suck. I'm new and this is overkill for me but I cannot nail down this rivet thing at all so hopefully this will fix that. Course it would help if I had good rivets which... well... I think mine 'must' suck.

Are these better than the Tandy rivets that snap together then are pounded and don't stay or bend? Cuz OMG maybe I don't know what I'm doing but whatever I bought really sucks.

I'm very new and working on my 2nd dog collar. The first one was flowers with twigs. After I carefully dyed around the flowers/twigs, I painted them. At some point it seemed the dye? shrunk around the raised edges of the pattern. I was left with many spots at the edge of the patterns that were naked. Areas I'm convinced I fully painstakingly dyed with a small brush. Am I losing my mind or does this happen? Also I very painstakingly painted the edges of the flowers to cover up their edges. This is a PITA. I'm wondering if I can just dye the entire collar with dye - then paint OVER the dye where needed? I'm using Fiebings spirit dye. I figure if I could dye the whole piece and paint over the dye - I wouldn't have any areas of raw leather waving at me. It would save a ton of time. And if this would work, should I seal the pattern (flowers, etc) before painting with Satin or Super Shene? Or just directly to the dyed leather so it sticks nicer? Else - I'm taking suggestions. Thanks!

OK - So I got the BK swivel knife in 3/8 barrel and 1/4" blade. The blade IS thinner than the 1/2" Craftool Pro 3/8" blade I have. So for various cuts like decorative - the Craftool Pro seems to make a prettier wider cut. They are both so different. Craftool Pro is heavier for sure and I almost think that benefits me sometimes. So I'm keeping both swivel knives. I'm 'fairly' happy with what I'm able to do at this stage tho my decorative cuts need improving and it seems the leather has to be in some perfect sweet spot to get 'pretty'. My current main issue (besides dye/paint hell) - is beveling. I've learned if my cut isn't great due to leather being too wet, etc. - the beveler doesn't like to get inside the cut well or will push the inside. Proper casing I guess. But - I think I might suck at beveling in that I'm still hitting, moving, hitting. Then going back to clean up. When I try to run it down the line - tap tap tap - it just doesn't work. Like the leather is sticking. Maybe some of it is the quality of the leather as I'm still working on scrap and now 2" wide precut strips from Springfield. I have a giant piece of Hermann Oak that I'm reserving till I go through my 2" wide strip. In the mean time - I'm wondering if there's any way around the bevel tool 'sticking' (for lack of a better word) to the leather. I'd like for it to slide/glide a little. Not sure if it's possible. Would this Lexol product help? I've read dish soap? I only have Dawn so IDK if that would work. Maybe these things would help swivel knife and beveling.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong - but when I click on a Member to go to their profile and click Find/List Posts - there will be perhaps 4 posts listed when the member really has say 1,000. As if I'm blocked or relegated to seeing only a couple posts out of much more. Am I doing something wrong? Thank you

JL Sleather - Any way to get your images to work? Or anyone have any pics to compare chocolate to the dark brown?

treybecca - do you know or have experience with that? I'm curious if the Angelus white paint should go on naked leather or over something. And if it should be diluted or just used straight. For nice long wear.

I'm pretty much in the same boat. Northmount - I swear everyone has their own opinion and there seem to be thousands I personally would love to be able to mottle or use other colors of dye to be able to create areas that blend/fade into each other and damned if I can pull that off even remotely.

Perfect! Thank you!

Thank you!

Hi. I've spent ages searching for this and remain completely confused. Here's what I want to do.... After the piece is dyed and painted - all I want to do is to be able to 'highlight' the carvings, grooves, nooks/crannies. Such as a pink flower with carved lines in it. Not black - something neutral but on the warm side, just a pleasant highlight color Ideally I'd like to be able to color this highlight stuff to be light or a color other than 'browns'. But if it doesn't exist - that's fine LOL Antique Dye, Antique Stain, Antique Finish, Hi-light bla bla, I'm losing it. If someone could help me out I'd really appreciate it. I have Super-Shene and Fiebings Resolyne and understand the concept of them being a resist. Otherwise - maybe I need a good resist product? I'm using acrylic paints and dyes for my newbie self to start out with. Obviously to me, the tooling part of all this is simple compared to this vast universe of this Forum subject matter Thank you!

OK - I did. He says most people get the thin blade. Hopefully we were on the same page re thin vs. thick blade and not glad width I was a bit surprised by this and asked 'wouldn't the thicker blade produce nice decorative cuts vs. the smaller?' I don't recall what he said about that. I guess I want to rely on the knife alone for some decorative lines that won't be beveled. He wasn't sure how wide the blade is that I tried (craftool pro 3/8") so I can't really compare. So I'm still a tad lost and perhaps I should get 2 blades. There isn't much talk on here re the 2 blade thicknesses he sells and I can't find any comparison of the basic lines they make. IDK

Yes I need to get the stuff to hone the blade but I think this barrel diameter (1/2") is too big for my smaller female hands. I've not used it much and my gut is telling me to get a 3/8" from BK. Assuming I do that - I'm still conflicted on blade 'thickness'. For decorative cuts - wouldn't one want a thicker blade? Or - would anyone know the difference between the Craftool Pro 3/8" blade thickness vs. the thick or thin Barry King blades so I can compare? This is my last sticking point. And yes, I'm going to buy the 'kit' from BK (sm-med toolset). I have no doubt I'll get into this in a serious way at this point.